Cruz: Let 'real journalists' Sean Hannity and Rush Limbaugh host GOP debates instead of 'left wing operatives'

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) put a layer of paranoia on top of the GOP's outrage over being asked questions they didn't like during Wednesday night's primary debate on CNBC.

The GOP candidate for president called CNBC moderators "left wing operatives" during a campaign event in Iowa on Saturday, The Hill reports. Cruz added that future moderators should have the prerequisite of voting in Republican primaries.

"What you wouldn’t have is a bunch of left-wing operatives whose object is that whoever the Republican nominee is, they want him as battered and bruised as possible so the Democrat wins in November,” Cruz told the audience. "Instead you’d have moderators that were trying to help conservatives make a decision who’s going to be the best and strongest conservative to represent us and win, who is the proven conservative, the consistent conservative."

He went on to say better choices for GOP debate moderators include conservative hosts Sean Hannity, Rush Limbaugh and Mark Levin, saying those three are his idea of "real journalists."

“You know, how about we stop letting left-wing liberals moderate Republican debates?” he said. "How about instead of a bunch of attack journalists, we actually have real journalists?"

Cruz had lashed out at moderators during the event, accusing them of asking "gotcha" questions. On Friday, Republican National Convention chair Reince Priebus sent a letter to NBC informing the broadcasting company that February debates were off because the RNC was unhappy with the questions posed Wednesday.

CNBC is a cable channel that focuses on financial and economic news.